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classroom posters Old MacDonald had a farm

Teacher’s notes

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‘Old MacDonald had a farm’ is a traditional song that is easy to learn and fun to repeat for students of all ages. Find the sheet music and words for the song at the end. Here are some ideas for using the ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’ poster with your learners. The poster is based on the version of the song on the LearnEnglish Kids website.

Younger children

Introduce the song

• Showthepostertothechildren.Dotheyknowthenamesoftheanimalsontheposter?(Duck,cow,dog)Tohelpthestudentsidentifytheanimalsyoucouldask‘Isthisaduckoracow?’,‘Isthisadogoraduck?’,etc.

• Practisetheanimalnamesandnoiseslikethis:maketheanimalnoiseandaskthechildrentoidentifytheanimal.Next,saytheanimalandthistimethechildrenmakethecorrectnoise.

TIp: HOw TO prOnOuncE THE anIMaL nOIsEs

QuacK = /KwæK/ MOO = /Mu:/wOOF = /wʊF/ OInK = /ɔ:ɪŋK/

• Pointtotheman.Ask:‘Whatishisjob?’(He’safarmer)‘Wheredoeshework?’(Onthefarm)‘Isthemanyoungorold?’(Old)‘Whatishisname?’(MacDonald)

sing the song

• Askthechildrentoinventactionsforeachanimal,forexample:moveyourarmslikewingsfortheduck,makeyourselfasbigaspossibleforthecow,makeearsontopofyourheadforthedog,andmakeacurlytailwithyourfingerforthepig.

• Singorplaythesongandaskthechildrentolistenanddotheactionsforeachanimalasyousing.

• Singorplaythesongagain.Thistimeaskthestudentstodotheactionsandjoininwiththeanimalnoises.

• Singorplaythesonganothertimeandencouragethechildrentodotheactionsandsingalongwithyou.

after the song

• Askthechildren,‘Whatotheranimalnoisesdoyouknow?’Herearesomeexamples:beesgo‘buzz’(/bʌz/),sheepgo‘baa’(/bɑ:/),catsgo‘miaow’(/mɪaʊ/).

• Askvolunteerstoperformananimalactionormakeananimalnoiseatthefrontoftheclass.Theotherstudentsmustidentifytheanimal.

• Thechildrencandrawpicturesoffarmanimalsforaclassroomdisplay.

Old MacDonald had a farm

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Follow-up ideas. Here are some suggestions for other ways to use the poster.

• Youcouldteachanimalbodypartssuchasear,nose,beak,tail,paw,hoof/hooves,wing,trotter.Pointtothedifferentparts,saytheword,andaskthestudentstorepeatit.Writethewordsontheboard.Canthestudentsmatchthewordswiththebodypartsontheposter?Drawaninventedanimalontheboard,forexample:acowwithwingslikeaduck.Askthestudentstotellyouwhatiswrongwiththeanimal.Nowtheydrawaninventedanimalandlabelitsbodyparts.

• Practiselanguagefordailyroutinesbytalkingaboutwhatthefarmerdoeseveryday.Askthestudentswhattimetheythinkthefarmergetsupinthemorningandgoestobedatnight.Whatotherthingsdotheyimaginehedoesduringtheday?Writethefollowingsentencesontheboardandaskthestudentstoputtheminalogicalorder:

•Hefeedstheanimals.

•Hegetsup.

•Hegoestobed.

•Hehasbreakfast.

•Hehasdinner.

•Hehaslunch.

•Hemilksthecows.

• Alogicalordercouldbe:Hegetsup.Hehasbreakfast.Hefeedstheanimals.Hehaslunch.Hemilksthecows.Hehasdinner.Hegoestobed.Nowdecideasaclasswhattimehedoesthesethings.Addthesetimestothesentencesontheboard:

• Hegetsupatfiveo’clock,etc.

• Nowerasetheverbs(getsup,has,feeds,has,milks,has,goes)fromthesentences.Canthestudentsrememberthecorrectwords?

Older children

Introduction

• Askthestudentstonamesometypicalfarmanimals,forexample:cow,pig,horse,sheep,duck,dog,chicken.Makealistofthemontheboard.Dothechildrenknowthenoisesthatanyoftheseanimalsmake,inEnglish?(Cowsgo‘moo’,pigsgo‘oink’,horsesgo‘neigh’,sheepgo‘baa’,ducksgo‘quack’,dogsgo‘woof’andchickensgo‘cluck’.)

• Showthepostertothestudentsbutcovertheanimals.Makethenoiseoftheanimalsontheposterinturn,andseeifstudentscantellyoutheanimal.Revealtheanimalwhentheyguesscorrectly.

• Practisetheanimalnoisesbyaskingstudentstorepeatafteryou.Exaggeratetomakethisfun.Seethetiponhowtopronouncetheanimalnoisesinthesectionforyoungerchildrenabove.

• Writethefollowingchartontheboard:

•Name___________

•Age___________

•Job___________

• Askthestudentstocompletethechartwithinformationaboutthemanontheposter.Tellthemtoguesshisage.Askavolunteertocompletethechartontheboard(Name–MacDonald,Age–wedon’tknowbutheisold,Job–farmer).

The song

• Writethefollowingwordsontheboard.

•house,farm

•everyone

•everywhere

•here

• there

•duck

•dog

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• Tellthestudentsthattheyaregoingtolistentopartofasong.Thesongcontainssomeofthewordsontheboard.Whichofthewordsontheboarddotheyhear?

• Playorsingthefirstthreelinesofthesongtotheclass(seethesongwordsbelow).

• Studentssaywhichwordstheyheard(farm,everywhere,here,there,duck).

• Playorsingthesongandencouragethestudentstojoinin.Youcouldaskthestudentstorepeatthesonglinebylinetohelpthemlearnthewords.

• Dividetheclassintofourgroups:ducks,cows,dogsandpigs.Playorsingthesongagain–thistimeeachgroupsingsthepartfortheiranimal.

after the song

• Covertheposter.Canthestudentsremembertheanimalnoisesfromtheposter?Whatotheranimalnoisescantheyrememberfromthefirstpartofthelesson?Herearesomeexamples:beesgobuzz(/bʌz/),sheepgobaa(/bɑ:/),catsgomiaow(/mɪaʊ/).

• Writethefollowingextractfromthesongontheboard.Ingroups,thestudentschooseanewanimalandcompletetheverse.

Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-eye, ee-eye oh! and on that farm he had a _____________________, ee-eye, ee-eye oh! with a ___________ ___________ here and a ___________ ___________ there, here a ___________, there a ___________, everywhere a ___________ ___________, Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-eye, ee-eye oh!

• Eachgroupcanreadorsingtheirinventedversetotheclass.

Follow-up ideas. Here are some suggestions for other ways to use the poster.

• Listenanddraw.Reviseanimalbodypartssuchasear,nose,beak,tail,paw,hoof/hooves,wingandtrotterbypointingtotheseitemsontheposterandaskingthestudentstotellyouthecorrectword.Tellthemanywordstheydon’tknowandpractisethepronunciationasnecessary.Withstudentsinpairs,onepersonineachpairdrawsananimalandthendescribesit,inEnglish,totheotherperson.Thestudentwhoislisteningcanaskquestionsandtriestodrawthesameanimalwithoutseeingthepicture.Setatimelimitandthenletstudentscomparetheiranimals.Theresultsareusuallyveryamusing–andcreative!

• Dialoguebuilding.InventafamilyforOldMacDonald,thefarmer.Then,asaclass,inventaconversationbetweenthefarmerandafamilymember.Youcanusetheconversationtopractisespecificlanguage.Forexample,telltheclassthatthefarmerwantstoknowifhissonhasfedalltheanimalstoday.Whatquestionsdoesheask?Howdoesthesonrespond?Createaconversationontheboardusingsuggestionsfromthestudentsandyourideas,likethis:

Farmer: Haveyoufedthecowstoday?

son:Notyet.

Farmer:Haveyoufedtheducks?

son:Yes,I’vejustfedthem.

Farmer:Haveyou….

Everytimeanewlineisaddedtothedialogueasktwovolunteerstoreadtheconversationtotheclass.Whenthedialogueiscompleted,studentspractisetheconversationinpairs.Cantheyrememberthedialoguewithoutlookingattheboard?

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YoucandownloadtheOldMacDonaldposterfrom www.teachingenglish.org.uk

Youcanfindmoreactivitiestodowithchildrenatwww.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids

© British council 2013 / D150 The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.